I just read this in my "Encouragement for Today" devotional, this one by Carol Davis and wanted to put it up so maybe someone else will be helped by it as i was.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
I shuffled down the aisle of the discount grocery looking for a bargain that I couldn't live without. It's always hit and miss in this store...and I had missed...again.
But, I passed by a bin that caught my eye. "Damaged Goods." It was filled with dented cans and missing labels...no real rhyme or reason, just random items that were not shelf worthy. And suddenly, I knew just how I felt.\
Life sometimes delivers the unexpected. The school of hard knocks bruises us, dents us and removes the label that defines who we are. We feel as if we have been tossed into a bin, no longer worthy of a place on the shelf. Some people substantiate the lie that we are second class failures and all hope is gone.
So, I leaned over and intentionally chose a dented can, with no label from the bin. I got it home and placed it on the can opener with anxious anticipation. The whirr of the can opener finally penetrated the metal lid to reveal....peaches!!!! I let out a school girl squeal! I love peaches!!!!! What a treat to open this can and be greeted by one of my favorite fruits!!! The can was damaged but the contents were still good...and sweet.
God must have smiled...because at that moment the sunshine beamed in my kitchen window. I knew in my heart there was a lesson.
I have been damaged. We all have to some degree. I am not living the life that I dreamed about when I was a kid. However, the damage that I have suffered has made the contents of my heart so much sweeter, so much more compassionate, so much more in pursuit of Jesus. I have been looked down upon and judged by many who have seen my label missing and slapped on their own. Don't judge too quickly until you see that my damage has not defined me...but, it is refining me. I may be at the bottom of the bin, but Jesus paid as high a price for those of us at the bottom than he did for those that are proudly displayed on the shelf.
Look around you. Is there someone in your life, your family or your church that you consider "damaged goods." Don't miss an opportunity to reach out to them, to love them. You just might find a friendship that is good...and sweet.
Posted by Carol Davis at 3:02 PM
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Music for the Dance
Oh i so love the way Max Lucado thinks! He has just the right way of saying things. I think that's what's been wrong with me the last few years. I've become so bogged down with right and wrong, black and white, yes and no that i've forgotten how to enjoy my relationship with the Lord. Like in one of my previous blogs i'm learning that Praise Music is okay and music with some zip or kick or whatever you want to call it isn't going to send me to hell. I don't think God means for us to live our lives as if we're in a funeral parlor where all is quiet and somber. All of our songs don't have to sound like funeral marches. Well anyway read what Max has to say below. It's very good.
Let's imagine that you want to learn to dance. Being the rational, cerebral person you are, you go to a bookstore and buy a book on dancing.
You take the book home and get to work. You do everything it says. The book says sway; you sway. The book says shuffle; you shuffle. The book says spin; you spin.
Finally, you think you've got it, and you invite your wife to come in and watch. You hold the book open and follow the instructions step by step.
You continue to read, then dance, read, then dance, until the dance is completed. You plop exhausted on the couch, look at your wife, and proclaim, "I executed it perfectly."
"You executed it, all right," she sighs. "You killed it."
"What?"
"You forgot the most important part. Where is the music?"
Music?
We Christians are prone to follow the book while ignoring the music. We master the doctrine, outline the chapters, memorize the dispensations, debate the rules, and stiffly step down the dance floor of life with no music in our hearts. We measure each step, calibrate each turn, and flop into bed each night exhausted from another day of dancing by the book.
Dancing with no music is tough stuff.
Jesus knew that. For that reason, on the night before his death he introduced the disciples to the song maker of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. (John 16:7-9).
Of the three persons of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit is the one we understand the least. Perhaps the most common mistake made regarding the Spirit is perceiving him as a power but not a person, a force with no identity. Such is not true.
The Holy Spirit is not an "it." He is a person. He has knowledge (1 Cor. 2:11). He has a will (1 Cor. 12:11). He has a mind (Rom. 8:27). He has affections (Rom. 15:30). You can lie to him (Acts 5:3-4). You can insult him (Heb. 10:29). You can grieve him (Eph. 4:30).
The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force. He is not Popeye's spinach or the surfer's wave. He is God within you to help you. In fact John calls him the Helper.
Envision a father helping his son learn to ride a bicycle, and you will have a partial picture of the Holy Spirit. The father stays at the son's side. He pushes the bike and steadies it if the boy starts to tumble. The Spirit does that for us; he stays our step and strengthens our stride. Unlike the father, however, he never leaves. He is with us to the end of the age.
What does the Spirit do?
He comforts the saved. (John 16:7).
He convicts the lost. (John 16:8).
He conveys the truth. (John 16:12).
Is John saying we don't need the book in order to dance? Of course not; he helped write it. Emotion without knowledge is as dangerous as knowledge without emotion. God seeks a balance. "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24).
What is essential is that you know the music is in you. "If Christ is in you, then the Spirit gives you life" (Rom. 8:10). You don't need a formula to hear it. I don't have a four-step plan to help you know it. What I do have is his promise that the helper would come to comfort, convict, and convey.
So think about it; have you ever been comforted? Has God ever brought you peace when the world brought you pain? Then you heard the music.
Have you ever been convicted? Have you ever sensed a stab of sorrow for your actions? Then you've been touched by the Holy Spirit.
Or have you ever understood a new truth? Or seen an old principle in a new way? The light comes on. Your eyes pop open. "Aha, now I understand." Ever happen to you? If so, that was the Holy Spirit conveying to you a new truth.
What do you know? He's been working in your life already.
By the way, for those of us who spent years trying to do God's job, that is great news. It's much easier to raise the sail than row the boat. And it's a lot easier getting people to join the dance when God is playing the music.
That's what makes God, God.
From A Gentle Thunder
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 1995) Max Lucado
Week of May 28
Music for the Dance
by Max Lucado
Let's imagine that you want to learn to dance. Being the rational, cerebral person you are, you go to a bookstore and buy a book on dancing.
You take the book home and get to work. You do everything it says. The book says sway; you sway. The book says shuffle; you shuffle. The book says spin; you spin.
Finally, you think you've got it, and you invite your wife to come in and watch. You hold the book open and follow the instructions step by step.
You continue to read, then dance, read, then dance, until the dance is completed. You plop exhausted on the couch, look at your wife, and proclaim, "I executed it perfectly."
"You executed it, all right," she sighs. "You killed it."
"What?"
"You forgot the most important part. Where is the music?"
Music?
We Christians are prone to follow the book while ignoring the music. We master the doctrine, outline the chapters, memorize the dispensations, debate the rules, and stiffly step down the dance floor of life with no music in our hearts. We measure each step, calibrate each turn, and flop into bed each night exhausted from another day of dancing by the book.
Dancing with no music is tough stuff.
Jesus knew that. For that reason, on the night before his death he introduced the disciples to the song maker of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. (John 16:7-9).
Of the three persons of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit is the one we understand the least. Perhaps the most common mistake made regarding the Spirit is perceiving him as a power but not a person, a force with no identity. Such is not true.
The Holy Spirit is not an "it." He is a person. He has knowledge (1 Cor. 2:11). He has a will (1 Cor. 12:11). He has a mind (Rom. 8:27). He has affections (Rom. 15:30). You can lie to him (Acts 5:3-4). You can insult him (Heb. 10:29). You can grieve him (Eph. 4:30).
The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force. He is not Popeye's spinach or the surfer's wave. He is God within you to help you. In fact John calls him the Helper.
Envision a father helping his son learn to ride a bicycle, and you will have a partial picture of the Holy Spirit. The father stays at the son's side. He pushes the bike and steadies it if the boy starts to tumble. The Spirit does that for us; he stays our step and strengthens our stride. Unlike the father, however, he never leaves. He is with us to the end of the age.
What does the Spirit do?
He comforts the saved. (John 16:7).
He convicts the lost. (John 16:8).
He conveys the truth. (John 16:12).
Is John saying we don't need the book in order to dance? Of course not; he helped write it. Emotion without knowledge is as dangerous as knowledge without emotion. God seeks a balance. "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24).
What is essential is that you know the music is in you. "If Christ is in you, then the Spirit gives you life" (Rom. 8:10). You don't need a formula to hear it. I don't have a four-step plan to help you know it. What I do have is his promise that the helper would come to comfort, convict, and convey.
So think about it; have you ever been comforted? Has God ever brought you peace when the world brought you pain? Then you heard the music.
Have you ever been convicted? Have you ever sensed a stab of sorrow for your actions? Then you've been touched by the Holy Spirit.
Or have you ever understood a new truth? Or seen an old principle in a new way? The light comes on. Your eyes pop open. "Aha, now I understand." Ever happen to you? If so, that was the Holy Spirit conveying to you a new truth.
What do you know? He's been working in your life already.
By the way, for those of us who spent years trying to do God's job, that is great news. It's much easier to raise the sail than row the boat. And it's a lot easier getting people to join the dance when God is playing the music.
That's what makes God, God.
From A Gentle Thunder
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 1995) Max Lucado
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
A Tribute to my Mom
I lost my mom 3 years ago to a rare type of blood cancer. She was my best friend and even though i miss her every day i wouldn’t wish her back for anything. She is finally pain free and will never, ever be sick again. The good thing is, i know i will see her again someday and that helps to ease the pain and emptiness her passing has left me with. This is the poem i wrote about her the day after she passed on to heaven.
The Empty Chair
In the living room where she once sat
there sits an empty chair,
She’s gone on above to better things
we’ll no longer see her there.
In her lifetime she had so much pain
but, it’s gone from her at last,
The hospitals, the needles and experiments
are now, part of her past.
For she has gone to meet her Jesus
He’s the one who set her free,
There’s no more pain, she’s free at last
but, we’ll miss her you and me.
Yet, I’ve found when I look closely
I still see her sitting there,
With her open bible on her lap
and on her lips a prayer.
She prayed hard for her family
that we would give our hearts,
To the God above she loved so much
and from Him n’er depart.
I can sometimes see her sitting there
with sewing in her lap,
Or reading one of her favorite books
or sneaking a little catnap.
She loved her God and she loved life
and she lived it to the fullest,
There wasn’t time to complain or whine
and her smile was contagious.
So I see her chair and the memories
that she has left behind,
She may not be here with us in person
but, she’s in my heart and mind.
In loving memory of my mom.
Marlene Sinkler
Gone from this earth but,
always in my heart.
by diki denise sinkler-burns
© 2/3/2007
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Hours, Minutes, Seconds…
I received the below email this morning and it really got me thinking.
“Your Life's Account”
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!!!
Imagine that you had won the following prize in a contest:
Each morning your bank would deposit $ 86,400.00 in your private account for your use.
However, this prize had rules, just as any game has certain rules.
The first set of rules would be :-
Everything that you didn't spend during each day would be taken away from you. You may not simply transfer money into some other account. You may only spend it.
Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $ 86,400.00 for that day.
The second set of rules:
The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say, Its over, the game is over! It can close the account and you will not receive a new one.
What would you personally do?
You would buy anything and everything you wanted, right? Not only for yourself, but for all people you love ? Even for people you don't know, because you couldn't possibly spend it all on yourself, right?
You would try to spend every cent, and use it all, right?
ACTUALLY, THIS GAME IS REALITY!!
Each of us is in possession of such a magical bank....we just cant seem to see it.
THE MAGICAL BANK IS TIME!
Each awakening morning we receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life,
and when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is NOT credited to us.
What we haven't lived up that day is forever lost....yesterday is forever gone.!!
Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time.
WITHOUT WARNING. !!
WELL, what will you do with your 86,400 seconds? Aren't they worth so much more than the same amount in dollars? Think about that, and always think of this:-----Enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than you think.” So take care of yourself, and enjoy life!
Now this is an eye opener. 86,400 seconds, what do i do with them. I know for sure it makes me feel guilty because i surely do waste a lot of precious seconds every day and God must be very disappointed in me for the way i spend the seconds that He gives me each day. It is so easy in our humanness to waste our time and at the end of the day we wonder what happened that we didn’t accomplish anything. I guess right now i’m not thinking so much of actual physical time wasters but, instead the mental time wasters in our lives. Like feeling sorry for ourselves, complaining, crabbing or whining and those are technically time wasters.* We can’t serve the Lord that way. We can’t glorify Him that way. What must the world think of us? What must our unsaved loved ones think of God when we live like this. We’re told in Philippians 4:4, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. It says always, not just when things are going good – ALWAYS. Life is not easy but, praise God as His children we have Him, we have Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit** to walk through it with us and the strength*** only God can give if we would but ask for it. And remember whatever we are going through at this very minute is nothing compared to what He went through for us. I think sometimes we look at what Jesus went through as, “Oh but, He was God’s son, everything was easier for Him” but, it wasn’t. In His human form on this earth He felt the pain of ridicule and persecution just as we do. He understood what it felt like when no one would believe His words. He felt the jarring, excruciating pain of every strike of the mallet as those who didn’t believe pounded each nail into his hands and feet. He felt the agonizing pain of hanging in the air on the cross as all of His weight bore down on those nails and tore His muscles and flesh. He felt His mother’s pain as she watched in horror what they were doing to her son. He felt the sting of every cruel word as unbelievers chanted ridicule and insults at Him. God his own father rejected Him because He had taken all of our sin upon Himself and God could not look upon sin. He loved us so much that He bore the weight of our sin and His fathers rejection for me, for us!**** How blessed are we that we don’t have to go through our earthly trials alone. Even when i think that life is so rough sometimes i just want to give up – it is nothing compared to what my Jesus went through for me. To think with all of life’s problems – i have Jesus to walk with me and the Holy Spirit to guide me. At the worst time in His life He couldn’t even ask His own father for help. He had to bear our burdens alone. ALL ALONE He died for me, for us. We have Him and all His strength, His grace, His mercy and most of all we have His love. I think the trickiest part in our day and age is sorting out the time we waste and then we will find we have much more time for God. In Psalm 46:10 He says, Be still and know that I am God. When we are still so that we can hear Him then He will strengthen us for whatever battle we are facing.***** I must try to do better at loving Him back and i must show Him by using my 86,400 seconds more productively that He may be glorified and maximized in my life and not minimized. You know in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 God has a time for everything. I think the important thing to remember is that God needs to be in control of our time and not us and everything else will fall into place. We can’t wallow in the mire and make progress at the same time. The mire will bog us down.
Oh dear Lord and Father of mine, help me to love you more and in loving you more let it be obvious who is in control of my life and my time, right down to the very second. Help me to use every second as though it is my last that You may be glorified in every one. Thank you Jesus, amen
* – Philippians 2:14
** - John 14:16, 17, 26
*** - Philippians 4:13
**** - Matthew 27:28-31, 46;
Mark 15:16-34
***** - Isaiah 40:29-31
******- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Philippians 4:11
Oh well, i’ve been rambling on again, i just get a thought in my head and i can’t let it go. Good day to you all!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
A New Revelation
Well a new revelation for me anyway. I grew up with traditional gospel music, you know like the old hymns. Now i love the old hymns and i will be the first to stick up for them nor will i ever give them up but, does that really have to be all there is in the life of a Baptist? I love the music we play at our church but, sometimes i just long for some of those songs that make you want to lift your hands to the sky and shout Praise the Lord! What is wrong with that? Why are “Baptists” so afraid of showing some feeling,happiness, gratefulness and praise to our God?
There is nothing wrong with drums and guitars when they are used in a way that glorifies the Lord. We can sound happy and full of life without sounding like a rock band. It’s just even though i love the songs we sing they seem more like elevator music. I wouldn’t mind a good uplifting praise song thrown in here and there. Maybe it would even wake some of us up. Praise music is another form of worship and i don’t think it should be eliminated from the church service. I’m sure the only reason there weren’t guitars in King David’s day was because they hadn’t thought of that design yet. Does that make it wrong because we thought of it and they didn’t?
I’ve recently been listening to praise music and i really do like most of what i’m hearing. I’ve been listening to groups like Hillsong and Maranatha, also i discovered a guy named Don Moen. I never heard of him before but, i like his music and his style. A lot of the songs they put the lyrics with so it’s easy to sing along with them. Don Moen has songs like; Power of Your Love, God Will Make A Way, There Is None Like You, Thank You Lord etc. All awesome songs in both word and melody. A lot praise music follows certain scriptures or even sings the scriptures. What a way to praise God by singing His word! Well anyway, as i was sitting in church a week or so ago i got to thinking and this thought hit me, many years ago they used to only sing out of a Psaltery. I think that was the Psalms they were singing then. Then someone tried to introduce hymns and the church leaders had a fit because they weren’t singing words directly from the bible. Now i plan to do more research on that but, i got to thinking… isn’t that what a lot of us are doing? Oh my that’s new and different, it’s too lively, it’s sacrilegious, ack! it has rhythm oh my goodness we can’t have that in church people may think we are getting worldly!!!! I love The Old Rugged Cross, Be Thou My Vision, Praise Him, Praise Him, At Calvary, Trust His Word, Trust and Obey along with so many others but, we need (i need) the uplift of Praise Songs. It seems to me we are doing the same thing they did many years ago when someone tried to introduce hymns in a hymn book and people fought against the idea. It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with the hymns it was just, you know how people say, “We ain’t never done it that way before”! They just didn’t like the idea of doing things differently. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to try something new. Sometimes we get so caught up in listening to other peoples views of what is right or wrong or what we should or shouldn’t do we forget how to think for ourselves and take it to the Lord and ask Him what He says is right for us. I think we have gotten so worried that we may look or sound worldly that we have forgotten how to feel the words to the music and sing them from our hearts. Heaven forbid we show any outward emotion and that is sad because we are missing out on so much blessing that way.
Jehovah Jireh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGTY6H6SLOw
Psalm 150
Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heaven! Praise Him for His mighty works; praise His unequaled greatness! Praise Him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise Him with the lyre and harp! Praise Him with the tambourine and dancing; praise Him with strings and flutes! Praise Him with a clash of cymbals; praise Him with loud clanging cymbals. Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord! NLT
Psalm 100:1 – 2
Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before Him, singing with joy! NLT
draft 1:
There is nothing wrong with drums and guitars when they are used in a way that glorifies the Lord. We can sound happy and full of life without sounding like a rock band. It’s just even though i love the songs we sing they seem more like elevator music. I wouldn’t mind a good uplifting praise song thrown in here and there. Maybe it would even wake some of us up. Praise music is another form of worship and i don’t think it should be eliminated from the church service. I’m sure the only reason there weren’t guitars in King David’s day was because they hadn’t thought of that design yet. Does that make it wrong because we thought of it and they didn’t?
I’ve recently been listening to praise music and i really do like most of what i’m hearing. I’ve been listening to groups like Hillsong and Maranatha, also i discovered a guy named Don Moen. I never heard of him before but, i like his music and his style. A lot of the songs they put the lyrics with so it’s easy to sing along with them. Don Moen has songs like; Power of Your Love, God Will Make A Way, There Is None Like You, Thank You Lord etc. All awesome songs in both word and melody. A lot praise music follows certain scriptures or even sings the scriptures. What a way to praise God by singing His word! Well anyway, as i was sitting in church a week or so ago i got to thinking and this thought hit me, many years ago they used to only sing out of a Psaltery. I think that was the Psalms they were singing then. Then someone tried to introduce hymns and the church leaders had a fit because they weren’t singing words directly from the bible. Now i plan to do more research on that but, i got to thinking… isn’t that what a lot of us are doing? Oh my that’s new and different, it’s too lively, it’s sacrilegious, ack! it has rhythm oh my goodness we can’t have that in church people may think we are getting worldly!!!! I love The Old Rugged Cross, Be Thou My Vision, Praise Him, Praise Him, At Calvary, Trust His Word, Trust and Obey along with so many others but, we need (i need) the uplift of Praise Songs. It seems to me we are doing the same thing they did many years ago when someone tried to introduce hymns in a hymn book and people fought against the idea. It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with the hymns it was just, you know how people say, “We ain’t never done it that way before”! They just didn’t like the idea of doing things differently. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to try something new. Sometimes we get so caught up in listening to other peoples views of what is right or wrong or what we should or shouldn’t do we forget how to think for ourselves and take it to the Lord and ask Him what He says is right for us. I think we have gotten so worried that we may look or sound worldly that we have forgotten how to feel the words to the music and sing them from our hearts. Heaven forbid we show any outward emotion and that is sad because we are missing out on so much blessing that way.
Jehovah Jireh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGTY6H6SLOw
Psalm 150
Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heaven! Praise Him for His mighty works; praise His unequaled greatness! Praise Him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise Him with the lyre and harp! Praise Him with the tambourine and dancing; praise Him with strings and flutes! Praise Him with a clash of cymbals; praise Him with loud clanging cymbals. Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord! NLT
Psalm 100:1 – 2
Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before Him, singing with joy! NLT
draft 1:
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
More of Him and Less of me.
I recently read something from a friend of mine and he was talking about the "undo" button. How fortunate we are to have an undo button on our computers to save us from major mishaps (most of the time). How it would be so neat if we had undo buttons for our daily lives. It would be a neat thing and it would definitely save us from making some stupid mistakes but, would we learn anything if we knew we could just hit the magic button and undo our wrongs? I've thought myself lots of times it would be great if we could fast forward ourselves through the rough times in life but, again we would destroy the opportunity to learn from our situations. We wouldn't need to rely on God with undo buttons and fast forwards and we wouldn't learn from our mistakes and circumstances. My prayer for this New Year is that i learn to lean on God more and myself less. I want to think before doing so i don't need to wish for an undo button and i want to trust God more so i don't try to fast forward through the hard times. My prayer is that He be more in control of me.
Proverbs 3:5 & 6 Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not to thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy paths.
Proverbs 3:5 & 6 Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not to thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy paths.
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